


Family

by woodelf



Series: The Floofy!verse [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Neverland (Once Upon a Time), Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25481326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodelf/pseuds/woodelf
Summary: Gold and Neal team up to get Henry back from Pan in Neverland. Follows on from 3 x 04, Nasty Habits.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy & Henry Mills, Baelfire | Neal Cassidy & Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Henry Mills & Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: The Floofy!verse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836043
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	Family

“Well, well, well. Look who’s turned up again like a bad penny.” Pan sneered as the leather-clad figure stepped out from amongst the trees.

“Mr. Gold!” Henry exclaimed joyfully, then stopped short in his rush to the man’s side as he took in his appearance. This was not the Mr. Gold he knew; this was _Rumpelstiltskin._

“Henry?” Rumpelstiltskin addressed the boy without taking his eyes off of Pan. “You asked me once if you could call me ‘Grandpa’.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t really seem to care if I did.”

“I know. I had a lot of things on my mind at the time. But while I haven’t done many things in my life that I’m proud of, Henry, I’m proud as hell of my son, and I’m just as proud to be able to call you my grandson.” Remembering a similar scene, and Bae’s “ _If only you’d asked me…”_ , Rumpelstiltskin held out his hand towards the boy. “Will you come away from here and home with me?”

Instantly Henry pushed through the group of Lost Boys, and past Pan, his young hand slipping trustingly into Rumpelstiltskin’s own and gripping tightly. “I knew you’d come,” he whispered.

“Henry!” Pan protested. “What are you doing? You’re one of us now! You heard the music.”

“So what? I told you my family would find me,” Henry declared, and Rumpelstiltskin’s heart soared at the word. _Family._ “Is anyone else here?" Henry asked anxiously.

"Oh, _everyone’s_ here,” Rumpelstiltskin said, relishing the glare that appeared on Pan’s face. “Your mother – mothers, I should say. Your father. Your grandparents. You have a lot of people who love you and want you, Henry, including me. You shouldn’t ever feel like a Lost Boy.”

“Wait – my father? But he’s –”

“Alive, and here. Takes more than a bullet and getting dumped into another world to get rid of my son,” said Rumpelstiltskin proudly. That’s one thing he gets from me; we don’t let anything stand in the way of finding our boys.“ He bared his teeth at Pan, who scowled back.

Henry was nearly vibrating with excitement. "But where is he now? And everyone else?”

“We were separated. Bae – Neal and I had found you, but you were under a sleeping spell. But then your father –”

“Screwed up and let you get captured again.” Neal emerged from the trees, a crossbow bolt loaded and ready to fire. “I’m sorry, Papa. You were right.”

“Dad!” Henry took a step towards him, then stopped even before he felt Rumpelstiltskin’s warning squeeze on his hand, aware that this wasn’t the time for hugs and distractions. “I knew it! I heard your voice. I thought it was a dream.” He beamed at his father.

“I’m right here, kiddo. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“Good. Papa, will you get him out of here? Find the others; wait for me by the lagoon.”

“I can’t just leave you here –”

“Please. Get Henry safe. I’ll be along to join you shortly. I can take care of myself.”

Pan’s face contorted with rage. “You’re not going to –”

“Trust me?” Rumpelstiltskin asked Henry quickly, and Henry nodded. Rumpelstiltskin tightened his grip on the boy’s hand. “Hold on, then." Violet smoke engulfed them and they vanished from the clearing.

Rumpelstiltskin materialised them at the edge of the jungle, and was surprised when Henry turned and embraced him fiercely.

"Hey, hey, it’s all right. You’re safe now.” Rumpelstiltskin stroked the boy’s hair soothingly. Which wasn’t the total truth, but the words of comfort fell naturally from his lips as he held Henry close. “You knew we’d come for you, didn’t you?”

“I knew you’d _try_ to find me, but what if you couldn’t?” Henry stepped back and swiped the back of his sleeve across his eyes.

“Well, we did. Now we just have to find the others, and I’ll go back to get your father.”

“Okay.” Henry gave him a sudden, blinding, watery-eyed smile. “Grandpa.”

“That’s my boy.” Rumpelstiltskin ruffled his hair with a return grin.

“I like the leather outfit, by the way,” Henry remarked, looking him up and down as they began walking. “It’s pretty cool-looking.”

“Well, thank you. A bit more suitable for adventuring, don’t you think?”

“Hey – and your leg!” Henry realised. “Your limp’s gone!”

“I couldn’t be slowed up by it. Fixed by magic, for the time being.”

“But does that mean –” Henry’s brow furrowed as he thought. “When magic came back to Storybrooke, could you have fixed it then? And you didn’t?”

“Yes, I could have. But – I wanted it as a reminder. Why I was doing everything.” Suddenly he wanted to tell someone. “Can you keep a secret? No one else alive knows this.”

“If the secret doesn’t endanger anyone else – yes.”

Rumpelstiltskin smiled approvingly. “Smart lad. Never promise anything unthinkingly. Well, when I was a young man, I served as a soldier during the Ogre Wars. One day, a Seer was brought into camp. Someone who could see the future. She told me that my wife was pregnant. But that my son would grow up fatherless due to my actions on the battlefield. It wasn’t the thought of dying in battle that bothered me so much, not if I died bravely, but I couldn’t bear the thought of my child having to grow up without a father, of never being able to see his face even once. So I did it. To myself. Took a sledgehammer and…” he nodded towards his ankle and Henry blanched. “They had to send me home, then. I could barely stand, let alone fight. But when I got home and I saw Bae, so little and so new, I didn’t regret it.” Rumpelstiltskin’s voice softened. "Through all the pain and everything that happened afterwards, I never regretted what I had to do in order to be there for my boy and see him grow up.“ He swallowed hard, remembering a green vortex, of being too afraid to follow his son, all the lost years.

Henry was quiet for a long moment. "Wow. You loved him that much, even before he was born. Before you even met him..”

“I did.”

Henry moved closer and bumped his shoulder against Rumpelstiltskin’s arm. “Things have to work out, between the two of you. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“That would be much appreciated. Thank you, Henry." He laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder and squeezed affectionately. Suddenly he stopped, raising his hand for silence, and Henry heard it too, voices in the distance, getting closer, voices arguing.

"Captain Hook is here, too?” Henry whispered.

“I’m afraid so. His ship was the only way we knew of to get here.” He raised his voice. “Miss Swan, over this way, if you please.”

“Mom!” Henry launched himself at her as soon as she came into view.

“Henry!" Emma grabbed him up in a huge bear hug. Snow looked from Henry to Rumpelstiltskin.

"You found him.” She sounded amazed

“Don’t sound so surprised, dearie,” Rumpelstiltskin said sourly. “ I said I would.”

“Thank you.” Charming said quietly, with a nod in his direction, before joining what was becoming a group hug.

“Well done, mate.” Hook came over to his side. “Where’s Pan?”

“The last I saw, facing down an arrow with my son on the other end," Rumpelstiltskin said grimly. "I’m going back for him.”

“Baelfire’s alive?” Hook’s face showed his startlement. “Want me to come with you?”

Rumpelstiltskin looked at him in disbelief. “Why? So you can stab me in the back while I’m distracted?”

Hook shrugged. “Have it your way. Charming’s hurt. Dreamshade,” he volunteered. “He refuses to tell anyone.”

Rumpelstiltskin swore under his breath. “Charming! A word, please?”

Hook drifted away as David approached. Rumpelstiltskin could smell the poison. “You’re hurt. Why haven’t you told anyone?”

“How did you – Hook,” David realised, scowling after the pirate. “What would it matter? There’s no cure, and we needed to concentrate on finding Henry and a way out of here, not having everyone worrying about me.” He hesitated. “There’s nothing you can do, is there? When you were hurt –”

“I’d been stabbed in the heart, the poison spread through my system very quickly, and I was too weak to do anything to try and stop it.” Rumpelstiltskin frowned. “You should have had a poultice on it right away, to try to draw some of the poison out. If I could have a sample to work with, and my lab in Storybrooke, I might be able to concoct an antidote. _Might,”_ he stressed. “But our enemy is time.”

“We found the cave that Baelfire lived in,” said Charming. “With a star map we think leads out of here, but Hook says it’s in code, and the only one –”

“WHAT?” Emma’s voice rose above the hubbub. “Neal’s alive? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.” Henry sounded exasperated. “He told Grandpa to get me to safety, and that he’d meet us by the lagoon, but Grandpa’s going back to make sure he’s okay.”

“'Grandpa’?” David’s eyebrows rose.

“You’re not the only one with a claim to the title,” Rumpelstiltskin pointed out smugly. “Find a spot by the lagoon where you can keep an eye out for Neal if he manages to get away but where you can retreat into hiding if need be.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Rumpelstiltskin almost laughed. “What, all of a sudden I’m popular? Hook just offered the same thing. No, exert yourself as little as possible. It’ll slow the spread of the poison through your system. _Keep Henry safe._ ”

“But what if Dad comes back while you’re out looking for him?” Henry had come over, and, as usual, was thinking the most sensibly of any of them.

Rumpelstiltskin grinned. “Call me. Say my name three times and I’ll hear you.”

“All right. But what about Pan? He said he needed me to bring magic back to Neverland. That I was the only one who could do it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sweetheart.” Regina spoke up.

Henry kept his eyes fixed on Rumpelstiltskin.

“Did he say how you could bring the magic back?” Rumpelstiltskin asked.

“No, only that it needed the heart of the truest believer, and that was me.” He suddenly paled. “He didn’t mean he needed my actual heart, did he? Like –” he glanced quickly at Regina then away.

“No, I’m sure he didn’t,” Regina said, just as quickly, but Rumpelstiltskin interrupted.

“Regina, we don’t know anything right now. Why don't we worry about it later once we’re all together again and safe?’

"Sounds like a plan to me,” put in Emma, and Henry nodded.

“Be careful,” Henry said. “I know you can do it. Bring my dad back safe.”

Rumpelstiltskin swallowed a lump in his throat. “Well, if you believe in me, then how can I fail?”

“Maybe I should come – ” Emma began, and Rumpelstiltskin fought back the urge to giggle hysterically. He held up a hand, cutting her off short. “You stay here and keep Henry safe. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He glanced at David.

“We’ll be waiting,” David assured him, putting an arm around his daughter and grandson.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded and turned, moving swiftly back the way he had come, unwilling to miss a returning Bae by apparating straight into Pan’s camp. Henry’s declaration of faith burned in him like a small flame, warming him from within and quickening his step. He’d failed his son once, terribly; he wouldn’t fail his grandson now. He’d come to this island willing to die for Henry, and he was willing to do the same for Neal, if necessary. He shook his head, his son’s two names warring for dominance within his brain.

It was Neal now. The boy become a man. And Neal was strong, and smart, and a survivor.

Rum was willing to give his life if it meant saving either Henry’s or Neal’s. but for the first time since setting foot in Neverland, he wanted something better, had felt the first flickering hope of it when Henry had included him with the words “my family”. Rumpelstiltskin didn’t want to die for his family; he wanted to live for them, for Neal and Henry and for Belle, waiting for him back home in Storybrooke, Belle who knew the worst of him and still loved him anyway. Maybe if he proved himself here, Neal would let him spend some time with Henry, get to know his grandson. Hell, Neal didn’t even know the real Belle yet, only the version who had called herself Lacey. He wanted them to get to know each other. He wanted to be around to see that.

Every sense on high alert, his jaw set, the magic coiling tightly within him, ready to be released, Rumpelstiltskin stalked through the jungle towards the camp of the Lost Boys.

And then it hit him. Boys. _Pan._ Henry was the reason he was here, but was it Pan who would be his actual undoing? For the first time, the thought of Pan’s triumphant sneer stirred him to defiance and a determination not to accept his fate resignedly. “My undoing, will you be?” he hissed under his breath, teeth bared in a feral smile. “We’ll see about that, _laddie.”_

Suddenly and strangely unafraid, he squared his shoulders and resumed striding forward, firm of purpose, ready to face his destiny.

And take control of it.


End file.
